Taiwan's Lathe Makers Busy With Turnaround Amid Global Recovery

Offering wide-ranging products with personalized service helps one maker

Taiwan's manufacturers of lathes, including conventional and advanced automated models, are encouraged by flooding orders alongside the recovering global economy, which is expected to motivate manufacturers to increase installation of production equipment such as lathes.

Many lathe makers in Taiwan claim to have, amid the global recession, developed innovative models that can create new demand. Over the past two years, some leading, seasoned lathe makers in Taiwan say they have developed state-of-the-art, multifunctional CNC (computerized numerically controlled) lathes, which can cut, mill and grind, with the new models able to do complex machining in a single cycle, speeding up production time.

Many domestic manufacturers say China's rapidly growing economy has created good business opportunities, while China's aggressive programs to develop untapped western regions call for many heavy-duty machine tools as automatic lathes.

Indications of renewed demand in other countries are encouraging Taiwan's lathe producers to expect better sales this year. One of the fastest-growing markets is high-precision, high-speed lathes for high-tech industries—a segment lathe makers on the island have been targeting with increasingly sophisticated models.

According to statistics compiled by the Taiwan Machine Tool Foundation (TMTF), Taiwan exported US$439.376 million of lathes in the first 11 months of 2010, up 34.8% year-on-year from US$326.028 million. C.C. Wang, CEO of the TMTF, says this line has almost returned to pre-recession level, driven by a recovering global economy. Seeing double-digit sales growth at many manufacturers busy filling orders, Wang believes the industry will continue its rapid growth in the months to come.

Multi-tasking CNC Lathes
Force One Machine Co., Ltd., established in August 1997, specializes in developing and producing multi-tasking CNC lathes (turning centers) with a well-equipped factory in Taichung City, central Taiwan.

Charlie Lin, with a mechanical engineering background and 20 years of manufacturing experience, was the chief engineer at Turret Machinery Co., a leading machine-tool producer in Taiwan, before founding Force One, and is now its general manager.

Force One has always focused on designing high-performance, automatic, high-efficiency and high-quality CNC lathes, and now is one of Taiwan's key OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) of multi-tasking CNC lathes.

This maker's product line consists of mainly turning centers, twin-spindle CNC lathes, and Y-axis turning center which do high-speed front and back turning, drilling and multi-function machining. Equipped with bar feeder and gantry robot system, these machines are ideal flexible manufacturing and high-output production cells for unattended machining.

The company says its twin-spindle CNC lathes are suitable for automated production to help customers create higher profit margin. Compared with similar machines, the company's multi-tasking CNC lathes can more effectively machine larger-diameter metal bars.

Force One exports its products to Germany, France, Italy, England, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Switzerland, as well as Russia, Turkey, South Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, China, and Argentina.

Besides developing high-end CNC lathes, the company also offers complete, personalized after-sale services.

Buyers can expect to see Force One at the 2011 Taipei International Machine Tool Show (booth K516 of the Nangang Exhibition Hall), slated for March 1-6, and its vertical CNC lathes, which is made of Meehanite cast iron with roller bearings for heavy workloads and heavy-duty machining.

Automatic Lathes
Lico Machinery Co., Ltd., established in 1978, is well known for manufacturing industrial cam-operated single-spindle automatic lathes and technical CNC turning centers, which are especially designed for metalworking and have been adopted by the aviation, automotive, ITC, plumbing fittings, and optical instruments sectors. Lico lathes are increasingly popular globally due to a dedicated in-house staff and subcontractors working in coordination with the management team.

Headquartered in Shenkang Dist. of Taichung City, central Taiwan, Lico's line is mainly of multi-slide CNC lathes, CNC lathes, CAM type automatic lathes, and CNC & CAM type lathes.

Living up to its name LICO, acronym for latest technology, internationalized products, complete service and overall reliability, the company consistently enhances quality, believing the key to achieving its goals is providing versatile, multifunctional products and timely, effective services.

Supplying certified, award-winning products since its founding, Lico became ISO9000 approved in 1996 and CE certified in 2001. Its multi-slide LNT-42 CNC machines won the Taiwan Symbol of Excellence from the Taiwan External Trade Development Council in 1993; while its LA32H automatic lathe and complex CNC lathe won the same prize in 1994 and 1999, respectively.

Claiming to have exported to over 50 nations, Lico's main overseas markets are China, Southeast Asia, the U.S., Europe and Latin America, with approximately 75% of output exported and the remaining 25% sold in Taiwan.

One of the company's most popular products is the LNT36/42/51/65 S-series and D-series multi-slide CNC automatic lathe. The S-series features 36mm-65mm capacity with main spindles rated for 4,000rpm to 6,000 rpm, with multi-tools able to do various machining jobs simultaneously.

The pick-off device with collet-mounted turret, hydraulically actuated, is servo driven synchronously with the main spindle while catching a workpiece and cutting off operations. After indexing for the opposite direction, a workpiece is ready for back machining, with the back machining tool platform able to mount up to four gang tool holders or three live tool units.

Heavy Duty CNC Lathes
CNC-TAKANG Co., Ltd. is another long-term dedicated developer of sophisticated machine tools, able to supply heavy-duty, ultra-low-speed CNC lathes and machining centers. This maker is a leading manufacturer of CNC machine tools in Taiwan, and the pioneering manufacturer of double spindle, double turret CNC lathes with over 25 years of manufacturing experience.

Over the past few years, CNC-TAKANG has focused on developing a wide range of CNC machine tools, with its line consisting of conventional, CNC lathes (flat & slant bed), double spindle & double turret CNC lathes, CNC vertical lathes, special drilling machines for oil industry flanges, vertical machining center, high-speed vertical machining centers, double column machining centers, high-torque heavy duty CNC lathes, and big bore lathes for oil exploration, etc.

Its LC & LD series heavy-duty CNC lathes have box slide way for X axis (cross slide), four-step spindle speed (auto change by M code), high-rigidity headstock and gears with wide-range speed ratio, high spindle torque and power at low spindle speed, high-rigidity machine bed, hydraulic tailstock with rotating quill for higher structural rigidity, and front/rear filing conveyor. The accuracy meets the JIS or DIN standards.

CNC-TAKANG has invested heavily to install high-grade testing and inspection instruments as well as R&D to ensure high product quality at its factory in Taichung City, central Taiwan.

More than 90% of CNC-TAKANG's products are exported, mainly to the European Union, the U.S., Russia, China, Canada, and Southeast Asia.